Death at Forgeheart

My friend Bridget McKenna asked me to do something I haven’t done in years: write a tie-in story. Bridget is the editor for En Masse Entertainment, which just came out with their new game, TERA, this spring. TERA is mighty cool, let me tell you. Anyway, I wrote a story that’s…um…not your typical slash-em-up gaming story. (I’m not sure if that’s a good thing from a gamer’s point of view, but I had fun.) I find that writing in other universes or for a theme anthology stretches me as a writer, and makes me think of things I wouldn’t have thought of before. This project was a lot of fun and I worked with great people. (Always a plus in a tie-in project.)

Even if you haven’t played TERA, you can read the story and have fun with it. Bridget also wrote a TERA story. You can find that here. And you can order mine here.

Here’s the story’s blurb:

A Matter of Trust

Two detectives—an aman and a baraka—investigate a grisly murder that could doom the federation.

The amani in Kaiator trust Shiadasha to solve crimes the federation can’t be bothered with. Vidok is the baraka minority’s unofficial investigator and their champion of justice. Thrown together over a horribly mutilated baraka corpse found between two amani taverns, they’re forced to share the investigation.However, racial animosity runs deep in Kaiator, where the giants—distant ancestors of the baraka—once enslaved the amani. Shiadasha, haunted by memories and guilt, does not want Vidok on the case. Vidok insists on staying.

Can they overcome their mutual distrust and suspicion? Or will the killer escape justice and plunge the Iron City into violence?

Set in the world of the next-generation online roleplaying game TERA™, “Death at Forgeheart” explores the price of doubt and the value of trust.

This novelette of murder and redemption by Kristine Kathryn Rusch is a great way for readers to experience the world of TERA.